In the as-sintered condition, tungsten heavy alloys have isotropic properties, that is, the properties are equal in all directions, since they consist of nearly spherical tungsten grains in a matrix of the alloying elements as nickel and iron, copper or cobalt. In certain applications as in kinetic energy penetrators, it is desirable to have anisotropic or directional properties to allow for minimum of fracturing and crack propagtion when the penetrator hits a target.
To obtain tungsten heavy metal articles with anisotropic properties, the alloy material must be worked extensively. This is difficult to do with essentially spherical grain tungsten heavy alloys without crack propagation.
Therefore, a method for producing an elongated tungsten grain article of tungsten heavy alloy material without the above disadvantages would be an advancement in the art.